Report from the Educational Council
Sue Cook, Educational Council Chair
The Council's most important objective right now is to complete the much needed and
long-awaited revision of the SICB brochure "Careers in Animal Biology." The
purpose of the brochure is twofold: To provide useful career information for a high school
(and early college) student audience and to increase public awareness of the Society and
its goals.
Council member Nina Caris agreed to take on this prodigious task in January 1996
without a complete understanding of what she was getting into, and the project has taken
longer than either Nina or the Council had expected. I am, therefore, pleased to report
that Nina (and the other Council members who have helped) are now beginning to see a
glimmer of light near the end of the tunnel!
About 90 percent of the text for the brochure has been drafted, and significant
progress has been made in securing photographs. The format will be in the form of
"Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) and will be easy to add to the SICB home page
on the World Wide Web. Many of the SICB Division Chairs have contributed valuable insights
and material. Particular thanks to those who allowed themselves to be pulled away from
papers and discussions during the Albuquerque meeting to be interviewed about careers in
their sub-disciplines.
A draft for Educational Council review is expected by the beginning of April. The next
step will be to create a sample layout for review by the SICB Executive Committee before
the end of the academic year. If all goes well with the review, a finished product is
expected by the end of the summer. All members should bear in mind that, although progress
on this project has been slow, the final product will be worth the wait.